William j



(No Model.)

. W. J. MYERS.

' SUPPORT FOR TELEPHONES.

No. 455,722. Patented July '7, 1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE.

\VILLIAM J. MYERS, OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE R. D. N UTTALL COMPANY, OF SAME'PLACE.

SUPPORT FOR TELEPHONES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 455,722, dated July 7, 1891. Application filed June 3, 1890- Renewed Tune 13, 1891. Serial No. 896.085. (No modelf) To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM J MYERS, a resident of Allegheny city, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Arm or ReceiverSupport for Telephones; and

I do hereby declare'the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

Hy invention relates to the means of supporting the receivers of telephones; It is 'well known to users of these instruments that there is generally delay in answering the calls a support for the telephone-receiver, either by supporting the instrument itself or providiug a support for the arm and so giving a support to the body of the user of theinstrument.

The support of telephon e-receivers embodying my invention comprises, generally stated, a vertical bar, a bracket longitudinally adjustable thereon, so as to raise or lower the bracket to any desired height, and having a socket thereon, and a rest or support entering said socket, said rest being formed of wire and having the end'thereof twisted into spiral pointsto form a frictional jointthrough the socket, the apparatus being placed at the side of the telephone and the support being quickly adjusted to the proper height according to the user of the instrument, and the support either sustaining the receiver itself or acting as an arm-support for the user of the instrument, as may be desired.

The particular improvements embodied in my invention will be hereinafter more particularly described and claimed.

To enable others skilled in the artto make and use my invention, 1 will describe the same more fully,'referring to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the telephone-receiver support and atelephone-transmitter illustrating its manner of use. Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the apparatus. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the socket connecting the rest or support to the bracket; and Fig. 4 is a view of the invention as applied as an arm-support.

Like letters of reference indicatelike parts in each of the figures.

The apparatus is generally secured to a board or frame A to be secured to the wall in proper. position with relation to the telephone,

and it has the vertical bar a and a bracket 1) longitudinally adjustable thereon, this bar being preferably angular in cross-section to hold the bracket 1) in proper position with relation thereto. In the preferred construction the bar has the ratchet-teeth a formed on the rear face thereof, and the bracket 1) has the spring-pawl c pivoted thereto, which extends down and engages with the ratchetface a, the: pawl having the finger-piece o for withdrawing it from connection with the ratohet-face and the spring 0 for forcing it into engagement therewith. The bracket 1) has the body b sliding on the bar a, and corresponding in shape thereto, so that the bracket is held from turning. When the bracketis employed to support the telephonereceiver directly, it is evident that it is necessary to provide an extensible bracket, which can be adjusted so as to bring the receiver to the proper position convenient for the user of the telephone, both as to height and as to the distance from the mouth-piece of the transmitter. For this purpose I employ the hinged arms 61 e, the arm 01 being hinged to the lug b of the body I)" of the bracket, and having at its outer end the. arm 0, which is hinged to said arm (I, and carries atits outer end the rest orsupport f for the receiver. As it is desirable that these arms shall be firmly held in the position to which they are brought in adjusting the telephone-receiver to the desired position, I prefer to connect the arm (Z to the body and the arm 6 to the arm 61 by what might be termed frictional joints that is, joints having sufficient friction between them to resist any slight pressure broughtupon the same, such as the pressure of the ear against the telephone-receiver when it is held in the support f, but to yield under the ordinary pressure exerted in adjusting it to the position desired. The frictional joints g preferably employed by me are formed of a rubber Washer placed between the bearingfaces of the joints, as at g, and a screw-bolt g passing through the same, and compressing this washer slightly, so as to obtain the desired friction.

At the forward end of the arm eI form the socket h, which socket is provided with africtional lining i, the lining preferred by me being a rubber tube of suitable thickness, and within this socket I insert the rest or support f, the frictional lining between the socket and rest acting to hold the rest into whatever position it is turned, and so enabling it to sustain the receiver in the position to which it is adjusted.

The rest shown in Fig. l is intended to give support to the telephone-receiver 7c and per mit the same to be quickly inserted therein. For this purpose it is provided with the curved arms Z Z at the forward end, which are preferably formed of spring-wire, so as to yield slightly when the receiver is placed therein, and with the arms on extending back from said curved arms and adapted to support the rear end of the receiver and to sustain it against longitudinal movement, having for this purpose a stop m, as shown. The entire rest or support f is preferably formed of wire, the ends of the wire being twisted together, so as to form the tang n, which will enter within the socket 7t, fitting within the rubber tube forming the frictional lining i thereof, the spiral face of the tang formed by the twisted wire offering greater resistance to the turning of the rest, and so givingaproper hold or binding of the same within the socket.

Then this form of apparatus embodying my invention is in use, it is only necessary upon a call on the telephone to remove the receiver and drop the same onto the rest f and draw the rest around into proper position, so. as to hold the receiver in line with the ear of the .user. In case the bracket is too high or too low it can be quickly adjusted to place by withdrawing the pawl from the teeth of the ratchet with which it engages and lowering or raising the bracket. As so adjusted, the

receiver will be held in proper place, as it is provided with frictional joints, as above described, which will sustain it in place against any slight pressure brought to bear upon the end of the receiver, so providing for the hold.- ing of the receiver to the ear of the user, and

the telephone can thus be employed without tus simply for supporting the arm of the user While he holds the receiver tohis ear, I generally dispense with the extensible arms d e of the bracket and form the socket h close to the body 6 thereof, and I employ a rest or support of substantially the shape shown in Fig. l, this being'simplein construction, being formed of a loop 19 of wire bent to the proper shape to receive the elbow of the user and having the ends twisted together to form the tang, as above described. The loop 19 extends out in such position as to form a proper seat or rest for the elbow of the user, as at p, and as the wire will naturally spring or give a little, and the user can quickly adjust the bracket to the height desired and turn the rest or support f in its socket, it will form a comfortable support for the arm while he holds the receiver to the ear.

In either form above illustrated and described my invention is practical, simple, and eiiicient'for the purpose, and can be made at small cost, while it overcomes the principal labor in employing the telephone, especially in such cases where the user is compelled to wait a considerable time to obtain an answer to his call.

\Vhat I claim as my invention, and desir to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. Asupport for telephone-receivers, formed of a vertical bar, a bracket longitudinally adjustable thereon an d having a socket thereon, and a rest or support formed of wire and having the ends thereof twisted into a spiral and entering said socket, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A support for telephone-receivers, having a vertical bar, a bracket longitudinally adjustable thereon and having a socketthereon, a rest or support entering said socket, and a frictional lining in the socket between the same and the rest or support, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I, the said WILLIAM J. MYERS, have hereunto set my hand.

WILLIAM J. MYERS. Vitnesses:

RoBT. D. TOTTEN, J. N. Cooke. 

